I.

Early Life
How generous and kind Heaven sometimes proves to be when it brings
together in a single person the boundless riches of its treasures and all
those graces and rare gifts that over a period of time are usually divided
among many individuals can clearly be seen in the no less excellent than
gracious Raphael Sanzio of Urbino1. He was naturally modest and kind,
with a gentle and warm-hearted nature. His friendliness was so graceful
and sincere that he made everyone feel comfortable and happy, no
matter who they were or what the situation was. Most artists before
Raphael had a touch of wildness and unpredictability in their nature.
This made them forgetful, eccentric, and sometimes led them to show
more of their flaws and bad habits than the noble qualities—like
wisdom, kindness, and grace—that make people truly admirable and
remembered forever. Hence Nature had every reason to show off its
finest qualities in Raphael. He had a brilliant mind, along with grace,
beauty, humility, and good manners. These virtues were so strong that
they could have hidden even the worst flaws—if he had any. So, Vasari
concludes, someone as gifted as Raphael couldn’t be just an ordinary
human. Nature created him as a gift to the world: after having been
vanquished by art in the work of Michelangelo Buonarroti, it wished to
be vanquished through Raphael by both art and moral habits as well 2.

Raphael, real name Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino was born on April 6 1483
in Urbino, Italy. He was regarded as one of the greatest painters of the
High Renaissance. His father, Giovanni de’ Santi, was a painter—not
very famous or talented, but smart and thoughtful. Raphael was nursed
by his own mother, not by a hired nurse (which was common at the
time). Giovanni noticed that Raphael had a natural gift for painting. So,
he started teaching him the basics of art from a young age. Raphael
learned quickly and was soon helping his father with painting projects
around Urbino—even as a child. Growing up surrounded by learning
and refinement, he developed the discipline and curiosity that would
define his career.
When Raphael was still young, his father died, and he was sent to train
in the workshop of Pietro Perugino, one of the leading painters of the
Umbrian school. From Perugino he learned how to paint clear outlines,
gentle gestures, and balanced compositions.3 Raphael’s early works,
such as The Marriage of the Virgin (1504), show his teacher’s influence
in the calm arrangement of figures and the soft use of color. 4

By 1504, Raphael moved to Florence—the centre of artistic innovation—

where he encountered the works of Leonardo da Vinci and
Michelangelo. These encounters changed his art. Leonardo taught him
how to create natural poses and expressions through the technique of
sfumato, the soft blending of tones. Michelangelo’s sculpture and
frescoes showed him the emotional strength of the human body. Vasari
later wrote that Raphael combined the “grace of Leonardo and the
strength of Michelangelo,” achieving a perfect harmony that became the
model of High Renaissance art.5

II. Raphael in Florence: The Madonnas and

Human Emotion
In Florence, Raphael painted a series of Madonnas—images of the
Virgin Mary and the Christ Child—that reveal his growing skill and
depth. Works like The Madonna of the Goldfinch (1506) and The Alba
Madonna (1510) show Mary as both divine and human, a tender mother
holding her child in serene landscapes. These paintings reflect the
Renaissance ideal of combining spiritual meaning with natural beauty.

In The Alba Madonna, for example, the circular composition draws the
viewer’s eye inward toward the bond between mother and child. The
figures are calm and graceful, and the gentle light gives the scene a sense
of peace. The balance and tenderness of these paintings were new in
religious art. Raphael made the sacred accessible—his Madonnas were
not distant symbols but human figures expressing love and care. 6
Through these works, Raphael embodied the Renaissance idea that
divine beauty could be seen in the human form. He painted faith not
through dramatic miracles, but through quiet emotion and perfect
balance.

III. The School of Athens: Philosophy in Paint

When Raphael was invited to Rome in 1508 by Pope Julius II, his career
reached its peak. The Pope asked him to decorate rooms in the Vatican
Palace known as the Stanze. The most famous of these frescoes, The
School of Athens (1509–1511), became one of the greatest achievements
of Renaissance art.7

The School of Athens depicts ancient philosophers gathered in a

magnificent classical building. At the centre, Plato and Aristotle Walk
side by side—Plato pointing upward toward the heavens, Aristotle
gesturing toward the earth. Around them stand other great thinkers,
including Pythagoras, Euclid, and Socrates, each absorbed in discussion
or demonstration.

According to Robert Haas, Raphael used geometry and perspective to

create a visual metaphor for intellectual order.8 The balanced arches and
converging lines lead the eye toward the centre, symbolizing the unity
of all knowledge. The composition reflects the Renaissance belief that
reason and harmony rule both art and thought.

Another scholar, Frode Sirnes Larsen, notes that Raphael gave Plato’s
face the likeness of Leonardo da Vinci 9. By doing this, Raphael
connected the wisdom of ancient Greece with the creativity of
Renaissance Italy. The fresco becomes more than a historical scene—it is
a statement about the rebirth of learning and the unity of truth across
time

IV. The Sistine Madonna and the Ideal of Beauty

Raphael continued to paint religious subjects throughout his years in
Rome. Among his most famous later works is The Sistine Madonna
(1512–1513), commissioned by Pope Julius II fora church in Piacenza.
The painting shows the Virgin Mary carrying the Christ Child on clouds,
flanked by Saint Sixtus and Saint Barbara, and beneath them two small
angels—the cherubs—resting on the frame.

In this painting, Raphael combined grandeur and tenderness. The

figures seem to float in light, yet their faces show deep emotion. Vasari
wrote that the painting was “so divine that it seems rather to have been
made in heaven than by human hands.”10 The Madonna’s calm gaze and
flowing drapery make her both otherworldly and human. This blend of
the sacred and the real became Raphael’s hallmark.

V. The Transfiguration: Faith and Transformation

Raphael’s last work, The Transfiguration (1516–1520), was still
unfinished when he died at thirty-seven. It was carried in his funeral
procession—a symbol of his life’s achievement. The painting shows two
scenes in one: above, Christ rises in light before the apostles; below, the
apostles try to heal a boy possessed by a spirit.

According to Catherine Kleinbub, Raphael designed the painting so

that light moves upward—from the confusion of humanity below to the
calm divinity above.11 The lower half represents the world’s struggles;
the upper half, the promise of redemption. In this way, Raphael united
spiritual vision with human experience.

John Cranston observes that the twisting poses of the figures create
energy and drama, showing how divine power enters human life. 12 The
Transfiguration stands as a final statement of Raphael’s belief in the
harmony between heaven and earth.

VI. Raphael’s Legacy

Raphael’s influence spread quickly after his death. His students and
followers continued his style, spreading it across Italy and Europe. For
centuries, his art was seen as the perfect model of beauty and
proportion. Even later artists who broke from his style—such as
Caravaggio or the Romantics—admired his clarity and harmony.
In Vasari’s words, Raphael brought painting to its “highest perfection.” 13
He united the spiritual ideals of the Middle Ages with the realism and
curiosity of the Renaissance. His work represents the balance of faith
and reason, emotion and intellect, that defined his time.

Raphael’s career shows how art both reflects and shapes society. His
patrons—the popes and noble families—used art to express power and
piety, while his humanist vision helped connect religion to the growing
respect for human knowledge. His paintings remain some of the clearest
mirrors of Renaissance culture: calm, intelligent, and full of light.

I. Giorgio Vasari, The Lives of the Artists, trans. Julia Conaway Bondanella and

Peter Bondanella (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991), p. 305.

II. Ibid, p. 306

III. Ibid, p. 306

IV. Giorgio Vasari, Lives of the Most Eminent Painters, Sculptors and Architects,

Vol. 3, trans. Gaston du C. de Vere (London: Macmillan, 1912), p. 119.

V. Ibid., p. 120.

VI. Ibid., p. 121.

VII. Ibid., p. 130.

VIII. Ibid., p. 132.

IX. Robert Haas, “Raphael’s School of Athens: A Theorem in a Painting?” Journal of

Humanistic Mathematics 2, no. 2 (2012), p. 6.

X. Frode Sirnes Larsen, “Leonardo da Vinci in Raphael’s School of Athens,” Journal

of Humanistic Mathematics 11, no. 2 (2021), p. 210.

XI. Catherine K. Kleinbub, “Raphael’s Transfiguration as Visio-Devotional

Program,” Renaissance Quarterly 61, no. 1 (2008), p. 48.

XII. John Cranston, “Tropes of Revelation in Raphael’s Transfiguration,” Renaissance

Quarterly 56, no. 3 (2003), p. 823.

XIII. Giorgia Vasari, Lives of the Most Eminent Painters, sculptors and Architects, Vol 3,

trans. Gaston du C. de Vere (London: Macmillan, 1912), p. 135.